Marriage is Murder

Jess listened and sighed wishing she could help but she knew the best thing was leaving both Khaat and Brian to cool down where ever they were right now. " ok so clean up time again " said jack looking at Robert knowing damages was most likely trees and fences around the farm. He finished his drink and headed out to check out the grounds for the relevant damage. Cassidy went with him while Jess shook her head at the commotion all around her.

"do you think blood will try for her again now there away from us or do you think he'll come here?" she asked feeling Roberts anger earlier towards the werewolf, her own matching it as she hated him for what he had done to Jacks family even though she knew they had chose that way long before Jack had come into the picture.

"I don't believe he can get here," Robert said, as Kate went to the barn to feed the animals. "Angus, did you do as I asked last night?"

"I did," Angus said, not looking up from his work at the kitchen counter. "They'll be arriving at both locations today."

"Thank you. Let me know when the next message arrives, please."

"There will be more?"

"Yes." he took his coffee into the study and closed the door. Angus looked at Jess.

"I don't know whether to hope that Steven shows his face or not," Angus told her quietly. "He either forgot he basically lives with 3 seers or didn't give a damn, but...they didn't miss his very loud thoughts about not wanting to be a glorified farmhand. Even if he didn't say it. He might as well have shouted it. Kate and Khaat both heard him, and I doubt you missed it either. Robert asked me to hire additional staff at both Brian's place and here. Steven is going to be actually forbidden from helping on the grounds anymore in any manner. And I have no clue what Robert will do with his bodyguard duties. But I can't think its going to be good with him simply disappearing off his duties. He might have actually burned himself out with Robert this time. If Robert gives him another chance, for the one millionth time, I'll be very surprised."

Jess looked at Angus and shook her head " he'd better not around me or cassidy " she said and looked out the window " his thoughts screamed last night and not in a good way" she said washing her hands to see if she could help Angus " got any thing you need me to help with , making bread ?" she asked feeling she needed to beat the crap out of something or it would be Steven she'd beat on if she saw him again. she slipped on an apron and waited. she watched how he moved and remembered. " any veg needs cutting?" she asked moving to pick up a chopping board. Cassidy stood up and looked at Angus as well and sighed .

" Jess is right he had no reason to think what he did were body guards and we do whats needed and whats asked of us with out question." she said " if he leaves I am not my job and family are right here " she said placing her cup into the sink for washing she looked at Robert as she spoke watching as he left for the study " might talk to Robert later not to dissuade him in fact, I think it would be good for Steven to have some time off , hes been a real jerk lately" she sat back down and watched them both Jess just chuckling and nodding her head." I wonder if a time in Roberts bug jar will help him any" she said " na, he'd be one ugly bug"

"Eggs," Angus said to Jess. "You want to make a boatload of scrambled eggs? You can beat the shit out of them if you want and I didn't get to them yet. Personally, I think Steven's done this too many times. Glorfied farm hand my ass." Angus was silent, suddenly remembering he did try hard not to speak what he really thought in front of the women. But he was livid that, in part, Steven was what had driven Khaat to run, completely blind, from her own home in the rain. He headed down the hallway to make the beds while his fruit salad chilled

Meanwhile, in his office, Robert wrote the first howler he'd written in many, many years. He didn't like them. But he was not letting this go forward. He took a small brown owl and gave the red envelope to the bird. "Steven," he commanded the bird. The bird fluttered off.

Angus saw the little owl with the red envelope fluttering away. Angus stopped and sighed heavily. Steven just hadn't learned. It was useless to try to run from a wizard. And Steven's avoiding Robert was surely not going to stop Robert from finding him. This was not going to be good. He returned to the kitchen.

"Um...Cassidy," he said quietly. "I just saw a howler leave from the study. We all know that can't be good."

Jess nodded and took out the eggs , cracking each one into a bowl she added some milk and pepper then heated a pan and pored it in as she glanced at Cassidy. " don't think shes bothered right now Angus" Cassidy stood up and walked over to him glancing at where the owl had been.

"I could care less right now " she said and looked at him " he wants to act a jerk he can suffer the consequences " she said then walked away only to stop for a moment at the door way " why do I get the jerks I thought he was different , guess I was wrong" she said and moved to sit by the front door.

"I don't know that you were wrong," Angus said. "Not about the two of you. But he does have sometimes a huge ability to be an utter ass."


It was still dark where Michael was. He left Khaat and Brian sleeping in the palatial suite he'd gotten. He had gotten the adjoining room, but he'd stayed vigilent in the living room of the suite all night. Khaat's clothes had been filthy and grass stained. And they''d managed to transfigure Khaat and Brian's clothes into a simple dress for her and a simple pair of jeans for Brian. Michael's jacket had been changed and resized to a shirt for Brian.

He was like a protective father this morning. The "kids' " filthy clothing had been left on the floor in the bathroom, and Khaat had wrapped up in a spare sheet and Brian had wrapped in a bath towel. When the couple had finally settled enough to sleep, they had collapsed out of deep physical and emotinal exhaustion. Neither had thought about locking Michael out from the bedroom but it would have done no good if they had. All that was visible was the tan skin of Khaat's slender back and her tossled long blond hair as she slept tight against Brian, and his muscular chest, with his arm wrapped over her.

The shops would not be open yet, but that never stopped Michael before. He sealed the sleeping 'children' from harm with a protection seal and slipped out into the night time skies and distance across the city. He flicked his fingers at the lock of the shop and let himself inside. He lit the tip of his wand and began perusing the racks of women's clothing. As he selected what he wanted in the dark, the stack mounted, clothing flying through the air and folding itself on the counter.

Suddenly the shop lights clicked on. Michael froze. Damn. A dark haired woman in a lace robe came downstairs, followed by a man with salt and pepper colored hair and a beard. They looked at MIchael and sighed.

"You couldnt call?" the man sighed.

"No time," Michael said. The woman walked over to him, draping herself seductively around MIchael.

"Women's clothing, Sweetheart?" she asked.

"Not tonight, Irena," he said, disinterested. "Its not what you think."

"It never was what she thought," the man answered.

"Shut up, Tobias," the woman snapped.

"Get over yourself. He's not interested in you. He's never been interested in you. How can we help, MIchael?"

"Family members of mine. Burned out of their house today by a werewolf. They need, well, everything." Irena seemed to get with the program then, as Michael began floating a few things for Brian over to the counter as well. Tobias began stacking mens wear in the same sizes on the counter, and Irena caught the drift of what styles Michael wanted for the woman and began stacking things in the same sizes, along with all sorts of beauty products and accessories.

"Anybody we know?" Tobias answered.

"Robert's daughter," Michael finally answered. They stopped and looked at each other.

"Why the hell didnt you just say so?" Tobias frowned. They doubled their efforts. It wasn't long before Michael had more than enough for Khaat, Brian and also for Michael.

"Robert's account?" Tobias asked, as they bagged it up.

"No," Michael said. "Mine. Not a word of this, you understand me?"

"Certainly, You know we're good for it," Irena said.

"I do," MIchael said. "That's why I came here." Tobias shrank the packages to one large plastic bag, but since it was all so supertiny, he sealed the bag shut before handing it to Michael.

"Drop in sometime for a drink," Tobias said.

"I will. But I can't leave them alone much longer. I need to go." He thanked them and departed back to the hotel and back up to the suite, ordering a newspaper and hot tea on his way upstairs.. He opened the bag and deposited a large stack of clothes for Khaat on one side of the dresser in the master bedroom and Brian's stack beside hers. He put his own in his, so far, unused hotel room. The sky was just starting to get light. His room service order arrived, and he poured himself a cup of tea, opened the balcony doors in the living room and took his tea, his newspaper, and a fresh pear out to the balcony to greet the day. The rain was gone, but Khaat and Brian needed some rest now that they were at last asleep. There was no need for another message to Robert. Not yet.

Cassidy looked at Angus and nodded gently. " I still love him, but he truly needs to stop all this....this being a jerk. " she said taking a slow deep breath in as she stood . She tried to control her anger at Steven she was getting tired of it all with him his disappearing and then disrespecting his job, some times she felt he was doing it deliberately. Jess scrambled the eggs and placed them in a small serving dish then went to make another batch.

" well he got the message " she said looking at Angus as he cracked more eggs and mixed them again , then she stopped feeling Steven's energy suddenly leave the area and she sighed " guess he's no longer working for Robert " she said and returned to making the scrambled eggs, " might want to add him to the keep outs" she looked as Jack returned holding a letter. she moved the pan from the heat and wiped her hands" ok this is too much now hes using Jack as his errand boy " she said walking out to meet Jack, taking the letter she moved inside and to the study door and knocked.

"Come," Robert called, preoccupied. He was preparing a briefing and a training. He had a new crew of farm hands to work his own property and Brian's. the bodyguards would be bodyguards, and if they had nothing to do, then, as far as he was concerned, they neeed to create a way to keep themselves busy. He was not going to allow this to happen again. And part of it was his own need to protect his daughter from any more pain. Robert wasn't sure he actually had it in him to forgive Steven for not realizing that perhaps Khaat, Brian, Kate and perhaps, just perhaps, Robert himself had had enough on his plate yesterday.

The villa gone. Khaat blind, burned and partly deaf. Brian damned near killed, nearly drowned. A crazed werewolf and a child trafficker chasing them from separate directions. A life threatening, incurable illness that they were responsible for. And that all was in the face of the fact that he had sent her to Tuscany to recover from being ill, from entirely too much stress that was indeed threatening to kill her. She hadn't been this thin since right after delivering Abbey when she had nearly starved to death. And besides that, he wanted her off all those damned energy potions that she was using to deal with her fatigue. And it was frightening Brian so badly that Robert was seeing signs that his young son-in-law was trying his best not to come apart. Brian had never married because, he said, he didn't want to leave a wife alone with a houseful of kids. But Brian's definition of kids had been, perhaps, 2. Now, they had 5 babies, one adopted teenage daughter, and hoards of children they were legally responsible for. And if Khaat died, it was Brian's to shoulder alone without her. Not to mention the fact that the boy was just plain tail over teakettle for his new bride.

And this---this was the time Steven had chosen to be self centered, selfish, and over-the-top rude. Steven had done this before, and had always apologized and sworn he'd never do it again, and yet, when all was said and one, here he was. Unchanged. Robert was not sure he had it in him to forgive Steven one more time.

Jess pushed open the door and walked in " ok first he leaves and now he uses my husband to deliver his letter " Jess said and placed it down in front of Robert " I didn't look, but I know what it says, hes quite for now. " she said " Cassidys fed up with him too, If I may make a suggestion let him go, we're stronger at the moment with out him and our priority is Khaat and Brian " she said folding her arms across her chest she knew with Steven gone they still had jack , cassidy and Jim to help out , Stevens lose would make no difference" she said but knew it was Roberts decision in the end.

"He can't bloody quit!" Robert said, snatching the note. "That's just more stupidity. I already fired him and he knows it. He'd fired. Flat out. Cassidy still has a job if she wants it, but if Mr. Walker thinks my employment is so beneath him, then he should just return to Dallss." he took a breath and looked at Jess. "Sorry," he said more gently. "I guess I'm not going to feel better until I get some details from Michael. If I had had any idea this was coming, I could have insulated Khaat from him. But...who knew he was going to choose the height of a security problem to decide that bodyguard work was too lowly for him?

"So you all know, I have hired two different crews for farmhands. It will not affect anyone's pay, but there is not enough bodyguards now. And surely not enough to handle the animals and the bodyguard work. Funny, Steven never suggested once that he didn't like animals. In fact, I believed his lies that he liked working with them. I will be sealing Steven's access to this farma nd Brian's. Cassidy will need to remove his things from the house they have on Brian's property. She is welcome to use it still, but he cannot remain on the grounds. He has his own farm. I suggest he use it. I will deposit his wages until noon yesterday into his Gringotts account. His medallion has been deactivated. It will not summon him any longer. It is nothing but an old coin now.

"I'm done, Jess. I am far more interested in this stage in helping my grandchildren grow up. I am not interested any longer in helping Steven Walker try to learn how to be a man. Clearly he hasn't gotten that message yet, despite all my efforts. So perhaps it is best he try to do that on his own."


Michael finished the pear and the entire pot of tea, he'd read the newspaper and done the crossword puzzle in it. He'd taken Enzo out to do his business and brought him back in. He'd watched the gondolas start to move up and down the grand canal and listened to the familiar rhythm of Venice life starting again on a bright new morning, as a sweet, crisp breeze flitted through the early morning air.

He heard a shower running. It perked his hearing. It had to be Brian. He doubted Khaat even would have any memory where they had landed last night in the dark. He ordered coffee, breakfast, something for the dog, and more tea. Then he got up and walked to the bedroom doorway. Khaat hadn't moved. Brian had merely slid out from beneath her and had left her undisturbed. He decided to hang close in case she woke up, disoriented from waking to darkness and not finding Brian within reach, leaving only long enough to receive the room service order. When the shower stopped running, he waited a few moments and poured Brian a cup of the fresh French Roast.

"How are you?" he asked Brian quietly.

"Better," he said, casting a second glance in to the bedroom.

"She doesn't even look like she's breathing," Michael smiled.

"She didn't feel like it at first either," Brian said. "Scared me for a moment."

"Then be relieved she's resting. Let her sleep. Brian, one of us has to make contact with Robert now that the storm is past us."

Brian sighed heavily. "Yeah. I know. What the hell do I say?"

"The truth. Brian, he's probably guessed most of it by now anyway," Michael said. "I sent him an owl last night. He knows you're both safe and with me. And that was the most important for him to know. Its only right that today we tell him the rest."